Wordless Wednesday: Goodbye clutter, Hello Garage

                     Homeless Items made this Garage Unusable...

Before

Giving every item a home returned this garage to a usuable space in time for Spring.

After

Are you a packrat?

A person who likes to accumulate material items and has a very hard time parting with things is often labeled as a "packrat" in our society.

Out of curiosity I was doing some reading about the rodent the packrat on Wikipedia found a few the terms to be more accurate than I would have previously thought.

• The packrat is active nocturnally. Like many people whose disorganization causes stress which can lead to sleep problems like insomnia developing. I often hear clients complain of trouble sleeping due to the guilt of not staying up to deal with their clutter.

• Packrats will often trade one item they have for something more interesting. Animal experts have observed a packrat carrying one treasure and dropping it to pick up another item that is more interesting to them. Hmmm... I think I have seen this at yard sales by people who are in search of the best treasure for a quarter.

• Packrats will store their treasures inside their vast nests. The treasures have no purpose for the rodent other than to take up space or in some instances to support a part of the nest. How many treasures do you own that have no real purpose except to take up space? I have seen homes where it seems that those "treasures" are helping to support the ceiling of the home.

• Packrats continue to expand their nest to make more room all the time. Hmmm... how many of us look for bigger houses, rent storage units, expand our home, or bring sheds into the backyard, all because we need more room for our stuff. I once spoke to a family that was looking to sell their home for the sole reason that they wanted to have a bigger junk room.

• The rodent is said to be very vocal with fighting between other rodents. Clutter is the cause of MANY fights and rifts in families. I see clients all the time that are desperate to ease conflicts with spouses, friends, and family members by heeding their requests for the person to get more organized.


So the next time that you are called a packrat or you use the term to label someone else... stop and think a moment if you really want to be compared to a rodent who spends their life in a state of high stress, with little rest, always in search of the next big treasure to add to their stash. Do you really want to keep running the same "rat “race or are you ready to make a change in your life? A change that can decrease your stress, improve your sleep, improve your relationships, and allow you to enjoy your life more... a change to get more organized.

Friday Five: Five Creative Ways to store Sports Balls and Toy Balls

I have two boys ages seven and six... so as you can imagine we have a lot of sports equipment hanging around our house. Basketballs, Soccer Balls, Footballs, Kick balls, etc... and one thing is for sure, the round shape presents an unique organizational challenge!

Here are five products that you can use to store ball shaped items easily in your home or gym:

1. Use an inexpensive toy net in the area where the balls need to be stored. Then you can set the balls up into the net. These can be purchased at any retail or toy shop and will normally run about $10.00. If you have more than can be stored in a small toy net, you could also use an old parachute, tarp, or large net material.

2. Invest in a metal ball rack like you would see a basketball team use. These are great in garages and come in two different sizes; the smaller one will hold about 12 balls and costs about $100, the larger one will hold 16 balls and runs around $115.00. (My advice, spend the extra $15 and get the extra storage).

3. I love the Ball Claw!!!! It is a great product and a great use of wall space to store those hard to store balls. The Ball claw mounts onto the wall and will hold basketballs, volleyballs, soccer balls, and even footballs and for only $10 a claw it is a great deal... visit http://www.ballclaw.com/ to see this great product for yourself!

4. A ball storage locker can be another great options for keeping balls from rolling all over the garage or house. They are more expensive than other options but are well worth the cost if you have lots of sports equipment and balls cluttering up your home. Many of them are on wheels so that you can easily move the storage locker around. Be prepared to spend around $200 for this solution.

5. The ProStor X-Rack is another great option to store not only balls but other sports equipment in as well. The basket style design is defiantly kid friendly so that balls can just be tossed when they are done playing. There are hooks on the side for misc. items and a great shelf on the bottom for play shoes or spikes to be kept. Expect to spend around $100 for this item but from what I can tell... it is well worth it.

These are five great options for storing your sports equipment balls and helping you control where they end up in your home.